Literature Review : A Device And Validation Scheme For Quantifying Spasticity

Spastic cerebral palsy carries many symptoms which include muscle spasticity/stiffness, joint contracture, paralysis, seizures, dysarthria, difficulty eating/swallowing, drooling, irregular breathing (respiratory problems), unsteady gait, learning disabilities, hearing/eyesight problems, slower growth than average, scoliosis, bowel problems, or urinary incontinence. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Spastic

The ratings for this scale vary from no pain, a zero, to the worst pain one could possibly endure, a ten ('Misha' Backonja & Farrar, 2015).  This type of tool used for measuring pain is considered a self-assessment.  Meaning, the individual rates his/her pain on the provided scale.  All individuals who have received medical treatment, whether for a serious injury or a yearly physical, has been asked, “What would you rate your pain today, on a scale of one to ten?”.  This pain assessment tool is considered a fully ordered variable due to the individual having a wide range to rate his/her

People with spastic cerebral palsy may develop severe stiffening of the joints because of unequal pressures on the joints exerted by muscles of differing tone or strength.

Based on this idea, Eyer et al. (2009) conducted a study to identify clinical characteristics and

Primary lateral sclerosis is a very rare form of MND in which people experience spasticity but do not experience muscle wasting or fasciculation’s.

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders that share the primary feature of progressive lower limb spasticity and weakness, with sparing of the upper extremities (Blackstone et al., 2010). Although few epidemiological studies have been carried out, the prevalence of HSPs has been estimated to range from ~3-9 per 100,000 and the age of onset can vary widely, from early childhood to late in life (Salinas et al., 2008). The HSPs are classified according to the mode of inheritance (autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive and X-linked) and whether progressive spasticity occurs in isolation (uncomplicated HSP) or is accompanied by additional clinical features such as ataxia, seizures, cognitive impairment and peripheral neuropathy (complicated HSP) (Fink, 2013).

In the past, approaches to managing spasticity have been tactics that have a series of ascending steps that range from the least invasive to the most invasive option. This entails the use of more conservative and less invasive measures that are often temporary, such as range of motion exercises and muscle stretching, before more invasive measures are considered. New research suggests that with the many management options currently available, a more dynamic, integrated approach is recommended to better manage spasticity. This is often comprised of the usage of a combination of treatments, or using more invasive intervention before trying a more conservative option. Because every child requires a personalized assessment and management

Parkinson’s disease produces both motor symptoms and nonmotor symptoms. There are four cardinal motor symptoms of Parkinson’s: tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia (slow movements), and postural instability. Tremor is the most obvious symptom of Parkinson’s, as well as the most common. The tremor is uncontrollable and is most noticeable when the limb is at rest; when the limb is in use, the tremor disappears. Often times, the tremor only affects the hand or foot on one side of the body, but it can eventually become bilateral. Rigidity is characterized as stiffness and resistance to movement in the limbs. The arms, legs, face, and back are areas commonly affected. Early on, rigidity can cause joint pain, often in the shoulder. Bradykinesia is one of the most common symptoms of Parkinson’s. It is described as slowness and difficulty in initiating and making movements, especially repetitive movements and fine motor skills, such as writing. Bradykinesia greatly affects the ability of the Parkinson’s sufferer to perform common activities of daily life, like getting dressed. According to Nolden (2015), postural instability is the imbalance and loss of righting reflexes. This is usually a symptom that shows up in the late stages of Parkinson’s. Postural instability is linked with high rates of hip fractures in people with Parkinson’s disease, due to increased falls. Aside from the four cardinal motor symptoms, there are secondary motor symptoms that go

Motor skills are mostly affected performance skills that A.K. is suffering from. For example, posture, mobility, coordination, and strength/effort are areas affected. A.K. shows spasticity in her lower extremities and trunk. Her legs show substantial spasticity in movement and joint range of motion. A.K. requires assistance with upholding a secure seated position in the bathtub as well as getting and in out of the tub.

in the brain are causing muscle spasms. Studys shown that over two million people in

B. Spastic Muscles – Movement requires not only action, but also active inhibition. To refrain from an act is no less an act than to commit one. If not, then we would move, walk in extreme, exaggerated reflexes. Spastic muscles can interfere with the body's normal movement. A spastic muscle either is always in contraction, or has no normal inhibition or opposing muscle. A spastic muscle disregards the needs of the rest of the body; its dysfunction is closer to rebellion than disease.

Emphasis has been done for clinicians to ask patients what is going on now and how he/she felt before. There is value in generating comparison among the patient before and after the condition onset vs. patient to patient since different people have diverse symptoms for the same condition.

Using technology to measure patients overall health is not always an easy concept as the information is not always a finite number. Measurements are broken down into two different categories, direct measurements involving concrete values and indirect measurements that are abstract concepts (Grove, Gray, & Burns, 2015). Direct measurements include, BP, heart rate, respirations, temperature, height and weight. Conversely, indirect measurements are more complex and may need more than one way to measure this concept, for example, pain. Pain is an abstract measurement that Grove, Grey, and Burns (2016) describe well in their graph exploring the concept of pain. In this graph, each circle represents an area of pain to be measured; FACES pain

Spasticity is described as an abnormal muscle tone that is velocity-dependent, and it is usually correlated with an upper motor neuron lesion with an association of hyperactive deep tendon reflexes (Nair & Marsden, 2014, p. 1). There are numerous neurologic diseases that exhibit

Many patient self-report measurement tools designed to assess a large range of HRQOL domains are available 181, which makes choosing the most appropriate tool to assess HRQOL difficult. However, there are several factors that affect choosing the most appropriate assessment tools: psychometric properties, whether a measure is generic or disease-specific, profile or preference-based measure, the length of the instrument, the reference period the question pertains to, and a static or dynamic measure 182. Table 2 presents the considerations for questionnaire selection 182